Town cleans up after 'awful' flash flooding

Mary Kitson said she was in bed, and her neighbours alerted her

Residents and businesses in Newport are cleaning up after flash floods hit the town on Monday.

Poundland shut in order for staff to clear its floors, and local business, Catherine's Bakery, had to sweep water out of the building. Newport Library closed on Tuesday and will remain shut on Wednesday.

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to Sandiford Crescent at 20:12 BST to reports of flooding affecting electrics in a property. The crew also assisted with unlocking drains and helped people in neighbouring streets.

"It was terrible, absolutely awful, [the water] came in through the front door and the back door," said resident Mary Kitson.

Flooding affected several parts of town during the downpour

"Next door alerted me because I was in bed, because I'm a night carer."

She, along with other residents, said there was sewage in the water outside.

Severn Trent said part of its network was overloaded by the volume of rain, and staff were helping its customers clean up.

It added that the majority of flooding was surface flooding, which was the highways responsibility, and reassured anyone reporting sewage in the water that teams were on hand in the area.

Ms Kitson said the water came into her kitchen

"I've been washing all morning," she said.

"It's happened before, but not to this degree, this is the worst."

Another resident, Ken Allen, said he saw cars floating down his street.

"The thunder and lightning started, and then it was just horrendous downfalls – and then the next thing we saw was the water just rising outside, all the gutters were running over on the houses."

"We were lucky, we knew that, but we knew those down there [the road] weren't.

"It's a horrible thing to see the day after, when you see the mess that it's left."

Town clerk, Joanne Reay said only five books had been destroyed

Newport Library said it would remain shut on Wednesday, but hoped to re-open on Thursday after the building dried out.

"There was significant flooding coming though the roof panels," said town clerk, Joanne Reay.

"We turned the electrics off, and came to assess damage this morning."

She added that the building had been assessed and the electrics were not affected.

"We think we've lost about five books, so that was a massive relief."

Newport Library shut due to water coming through roof panels

'Only call 999 if your life is in danger'

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said it received more than 20 calls in a short period of time from residents in the area.

It urged residents to only call 999 if their lives were in danger, and said it prioritised rescue operations over property protection.

"We have no statutory duty in England to attend floods - unlike other parts of the UK... our crews focus on people trapped or in danger... entering floodwaters poses serious risks to responders," it said on its Facebook page.

It said residents should isolate electrics and move pets and valuables upstairs.